Harry Potter and the Silver Locket
by british kitty
Summary: A romance novel involving Mandee and Harry, as well as a mystery.
1. Chapter 1

Mandee's eyes slid open just barely at the sight of the sun seeping in through her window. Today was Diagon Alley Day, as her parents always called it. She slid out of bed and ran over to her closet, slipping on a red shirt and jeans, before skidding down the stairs.  
  
Slashing tresses of chestnut hair into a sloppy ponytail, she shoved down a piece of toast and some grits. Her sister, Tabitha, was supposed to be taking her to Diagon Alley in the old Trans Am in five minutes, and Tabitha was known for taking off without caring or knowing who's going with her. Mandee hurried down the stairs, dragging her suitcases behind her and slipping on a leather jacket, just as Tabitha walked in the door.  
  
"Oh, good, you're awake," She chuckled. "I was just about to leave without you."  
  
"We all know that," Mandee muttered. "So, where are mum and dad?"  
  
"Oh, they're already at Diagon Alley," Tabitha said cheerfully, smiling and grabbing a piece of toast.  
  
"What are you so happy about, Tabs?" Mandee asked, hauling her suitcase out of the door.  
  
"Turns out Mum and Dad know that cute little boy, Harry Potter's, parents," Tab said. "And they volunteered to take him in. and he said he'd be willing. I can't blame him, I heard about the people he lives with. awful people. You should just hear-"  
  
"WHAT?" Mandee said, as if all of it had just processed into her brain. "Harry Potter is going to live with us? But, what am I going to do? There are only 3 beds in this house!"  
  
"Ooh, right," Tab said, thinking. "I guess you'll be staying with Aunt Tawny."  
  
"You're lying!" Mandee winced at the thought. "Please say you're lying!"  
  
"Nope," Tab said cheerfully, walking out the door and locking it up. "It's a great day, isn't it, Dee?"  
  
The rest of the drive there was quiet. Mandee had never met Harry Potter in person before, and even if it was Harry Potter, she didn't want him to spoil her summer by taking up her own room space. Some girls she knew, of course, would be ecstatic about something like this, but she didn't exactly feel too happy about some stranger coming into her house and put his Dark Lord-stained body on her beddings. It just wasn't fair. But she assumed she would have a proper discussion with her mum and dad about this before they left.  
  
As the old Trans Am skidded to a halt, she climbed out of the car and waited for Tab. After they both checked to see if their luggage had made it, as well, they both headed off into Diagon Alley to meet their parents. But just outside of Flourish and Blotts, there they were. and they just had to bring Harry, too. I mean, she knew this boy suffered from parent-loss, but her parents didn't have to make it seem like they were his parents. She felt a wave of pity towards him, until she drew near and shyly greeted her parents with an awkward smile, hiding the anger within about her now- occupied room.  
  
"Hello, Mandee," Her mum said, giving her a squeeze. "Have you met Mr. Harry Potter yet? He's said he's seen you quite a few times."  
  
Mandee looked over at Harry, who grinned. He was wearing jeans and a long black shirt, which she assumed was his cousin's. He suddenly appeared kind of cute, but. she didn't have a crush on him, or anything.  
  
"Hi," Mandee smiled, holding out her hand. "You must be Harry."  
  
He nodded and shook her hand, his grin never leaving his face.  
  
"So, 'arry," Mandee's dad said. "You've got all your books. and we can get yours Mandee. You two can hang out until we finish." And with that they disappeared into the crowd of Flourish and Blotts shoppers.  
  
"So umm," Harry said. "You. ever seen a firebolt?"  
  
"Have I ever?" Mandee asked, astonished he would ask. "It's my all-time favorite broom. The fastest and best handled broom of all brooms, it is. You like Quittich?"  
  
"Duh!" He said, growing excited, she thought, because his face lit up. "What's your favorite team?"  
  
"Definitely Chuddley Cannons," Mandee said. "They rock."  
  
"Me too!" Harry said, grinning. "Hey, do you mind stopping by some place? I have to deliver something for Hagrid."  
  
"Not at all," Mandee grinned.  
  
They twisted and jumbled through most of the Diagon crowd, and into a deep alleyway, and over into a shop.  
  
"What is this place?" Mandee asked as she entered, the room filled with bones and skeletons.  
  
"I don't know," Harry said raising an eyebrow. "Hagrid just told me to give this to the owner.  
  
But the owner was no where in sight. so they looked at the bones for a few minutes, supposing he's on a lunch break.  
  
"What do you think this is?" Mandee asked, running her fingers over a light- blue bone. "It's pretty weird."  
  
"Not as weird as Potter," Said a voice from behind. It was, obviously, Draco, as dark alleyways were where his father usually hung out, Mandee thought.  
  
"Malfoy," Harry said, gritting his teeth and turning around to face him.  
  
"Who's this?" Draco asked, pointing to Mandee. "Awfully pretty to be hanging out with you, Potter.." He said, slyly. "Mandee, is your name, right? Perhaps, you'd like to come with me to Silver's Sweet Store?"  
  
"I'd rather rot," Mandee said, rolling her eyes. "Go stink up some other room with your poisonous fume, you idiot, because we're in need of fresh air."  
  
"Awe," Malfoy said, grinning. "Potter's got a girlfriend! That's so sweet. Too bad, though, I mean. her being a mudblood and all."  
  
"Take that back," Harry said firmly, much to Mandee's surprise, who was about to slap Malfoy.  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
"Not my problem," Harry grinned, shrugging, whipping out his wand. "Wingar Totalos!"  
  
Suddenly, Malfoy burst out in fits of itches, his skin turning red and rash- like by the minute. Mandee stared down at his apple-like face and could only laugh. Harry, however, quickly set the box he was supposed to bring to the owner on the front desk and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Come on, before his dad comes looking for him," Harry urged, and they both escaped out of the alleyway and into the sun's warming rays.  
  
"W-why'd you-" Mandee panted. "Do that?"  
  
"He was making fun of you," Harry said, his hands on his knees.  
  
"S-so?" She asked, feeling a weird churning sensation in her stomach.  
  
"So," Harry hesitated. "I just don't like him, that's all."  
  
"Ooh," Mandee panted, drawing breathe and standing up again. "I get it."  
  
"Thanks for sticking up for me, anyway," Harry said, a cracking a smile.  
  
"Malfoy did look pretty lame laying there, looking like he'd just got a third-degree burn." She laughed, still panting. Harry laughed as well, and they started back to Flourish and Blott's to meet her parents again in time for the train, laughing about how Malfoy looked so stupid the whole time. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Last call for passengers!" A man shouted, peeping out of the train.  
  
Harry and Mandee quickly waved goodbye to her parents and jumped onto it, hauling their luggage behind them.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione Granger called, looking out from a compartment. Ron Weasley, a redhead whom Mandee's best friend Mary thought was adorable, peeped out from behind Hermione and grinned.  
  
"Hey, guys," Harry said. "I'll introduce you to my friends, come on."  
  
They slid into the compartment, and Harry sat down, purposely knocking into Ron.  
  
"This is Mandee Parker," Harry said. "Her parents knew my mum and dad, and I'm going to be staying in her house this summer."  
  
"Oh, how wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed. "No more Dursley's, Harry! You can sit next to me, Mandee." She said, offering her a little room. She shyly said down and smiled.  
  
"I have to say it's a lot better with at least one girl in here on the way there," Hermione whispered, smiling.  
  
"No kidding!" Mandee laughed.  
  
As soon as the train started moving, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all told their summer-stories, Harry's being the most interesting, of course.  
  
"So what'd the Dursley's do to you this time?" Ron asked, smiling from ear to ear.  
  
"Well, first, they gave me this long talk about how I need to shape up, which lasted pretty much the whole day, because they had a list of things I do wrong, and a list of things I need to do right. The second thing they did was hide my wand and homework and everything, and then lock me in my room for the rest of the summer. You should have seen them trying to work all those locks just to bring me food. but I survived, because they forgot about the window. thanks a lot Ron for sending me the cakes and stuff, it was a huge life-saver."  
  
"No problem," Ron said, munching on a chocolate frog.  
  
"My summer was the same as last years," Hermione said. "Do a little reading, and then practice. Then I do some more reading, and some more practicing."  
  
"Wow, Hermione," Ron said sarcastically. "That story was so mind-boggling; you could just feel the suspense."  
  
They all laughed and carried on having a merry time until the Hogwarts Express came to a halt, and they skidded out and into the castle. Boy, it was sure good to be back here, Mandee thought, and she assumed Harry was thinking the same thing by the way he was smiling.  
  
Harry pointed to one of the gargoyles. "That's where me and Ron placed one of Fred and George's Bumble Bee Bombs," Harry whispered to her. "And when Malfoy walked by, it exploded in his face."  
  
Mandee laughed heartily, and they all slid into their seats at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore continued his speech about the beginning-of- the-year announcements, and the food brandished its way onto their plates once again.  
  
Half-way into the meal, though, Mandee felt a poke in the back. "Ouch! What the-?" She said, turning around to face her best friend, Nina.  
  
"Where were you today?" She asked angrily, sitting down in the empty seat beside her. "And why aren't you sitting with us?"  
  
"Because..." Mandee shrugged. "It's a long story, but I'm sitting with them right now, but I promise to spill the details later." She whispered.  
  
"Okay," Nina said. "See you in the common room."  
  
After the meal was over, they all headed into their dormitories, girls on the left, and boys on the right.  
  
"Well, I'll see you," Harry said, waving to Mandee. She was almost certain, though, that when he was walking about Ron had nudged him. She simply shrugged, it could have been anything. But what would Ron nudge Harry about? As soon as Mandee entered the girls' dormitory, Nina sprinted up and asked, "So what happened?"  
  
Mandee smiled and walked over to her bed, flopping onto it. "Harry's staying with us for the summer, since my mum and dad used to be friends with his mum and dad and they figured it'd be easier for Harry if he just stayed with us instead of those awful Dursleys. So, we met in Diagon Alley, and he stuck up for me when Malfoy called me a Mudblood, so I hung with him. He's really cool."  
  
"That is SO CUTE!" Nina squealed. "What'd he do? Punch Malfoy?"  
  
"No," Mandee laughed. "How lame is that? He hexed him for me."  
  
"That is so totally cute!" Nina screeched. "You guys are totally in love!"  
  
Mandee narrowed her eyebrows and sat up in bed. "No, I'm not. I haven't even thought of liking him, only when I first saw him. But we're friends. just friends. I don't expect to like him any more than I do right now."  
  
"Whatever you say," Nina said in an I-don't-believe-you tone. "He's totally falling for you."  
  
Was he, though? I mean, he had hexed Malfoy for her, but they'd been enemies since. forever. He might've done it for pure joy, anyway. She really didn't want to think about it though. I mean, Harry and her were just friends. Strictly friends. 


	3. Chapter 3

Mandee awoke to a papery smell across her nose. A letter was lying atop of it, and she yawned and snatched it up. It was a plain white envelope, laced with red hearts.  
  
"What the heck?" Mandee said, yawning. "What is this?"  
  
She opened up the envelope and threw it behind her, unfolding the piece of paper that was kept inside. Seeing the letter, she raised her eyebrows, and read:  
  
"To the one I call a mystery; this is dedicated to you.... I can't believe I'm writing this, but I have to tell you, my love is true; I want to hold you in my arms, To tell you that you're safe, I want to smile and laugh with you, to see you when you awake. So please, be mine, I'll do anything, just for you to see; I love you, I want you. Signed, yours truly"  
  
Mandee goggled at it. "Wow," She whispered to herself. "Who gave this to me?"  
  
Nina rushed over, hearing Mandee reading a letter. "What's that?" She asked.  
  
"It's a.. love letter." Mandee said, astonished.  
  
"Oh, my gosh!" She squealed, and seized the letter from her, reading it. "What if Harry wrote this?"  
  
"WHAT?" Mandee said, alarmed. "That's not Harry, I know it. Besides, Harry doesn't have feelings for me."  
  
Nina rolled her eyes and squealed again. "This is so cute! I want to know who wrote the letters! Ask Harry. please? Please, please, please?"  
  
"Alright, fine," Mandee groaned. "I'll ask him, but I know he didn't write them."  
  
She hurried to get dressed, and since classes hadn't started yet, they were able to wear anything; so she slipped on a blue butterfly shirt, jeans, and some Vans, and French braided her hair before showing up to ask Harry if he had written mushy love letters to her.  
  
"Hey, Mandee," He said, his eyes suddenly sparkling as she entered the Great Hall and sat down next to him.  
  
"Hi," Mandee said, half-smiling. "Um. I found this when I woke up this morning. any of you know who wrote it?"  
  
She passed it to all three, who read it to themselves hunched over the table. Hermione's face turned into a love-entranced puppy face, and Ron and Harry both narrowed their eyes.  
  
"It's a love letter," Harry said passing it to her. "So. who's a guy mushy enough to send her one?"  
  
"Neville's mushy," Ron suggested, grinning. "And who knows? Maybe he's quite the poet."  
  
"That's so sweet," Hermione said, her eyes sparkling and her gaze out of place. "You're so lucky to have someone love you that much."  
  
"Well, I don't want to take it that extreme," Mandee said. "I just want to know who wrote it."  
  
"I'll help you find out," Harry offered, almost shyly, pretending to be looking down at his toast but really watching her out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Okay," Mandee said, nodding. "Then we can find out who's sending them, and if it's a joke or not."  
  
"Well, we know it's not a joke," Ron said. "Because it's neat handwriting, and whoever the guy is obviously doesn't want you to trace his handwriting down."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Mandee said, picking up the letter and putting it back in her pocket. "Whoever is writing them, though, sure is a good poet."  
  
"So you've got a secret admirer now!" Ron said. "Right on."  
  
Mandee laughed, denying a plate of bacon and getting up to go find Nina to tell her it obviously wasn't Harry, but as she was walking away, Harry walked up behind her.  
  
"Hey, Mandee," Harry said. "Want to come with me and Ron to Hogsmeade? Hermione's going to be in the library, and well. We thought it'd be more fun if there were three of us."  
  
"Sure," She replied, smiling. "I just have to go get my money from my suitcase."  
  
"Sure," Harry shrugged. "See you."  
  
Mandee walked back to the common room and grabbed her purse, running down the hall again and greeting Harry again in the Great Hall. "I'm all ready." Mandee said, turning around to go to Hogsmeade, just when a paper envelope fell out of her purse and onto the ground.  
  
"Oh, no," Mandee said. "Not this again." Before Harry could see, she picked it up and shoved it into her purse. She didn't know why, but something was telling her not to show it to Harry. She assumed her conscious always was the best guide, so she went along with it. until Hogsmeade. 


	4. Chapter 4

"So," Harry said, sighing. "Turns out Ron couldn't go, because he's late on all his summer homework and Hermione's letting him cheat only this once, and with Hermione, you've got to seize that kind of opportunity."  
  
Mandee laughed. "That's funny." She said. "Hermione seems so tenderhearted."  
  
"She is," Harry said. "Most of the time that is."  
  
They both walked into Butterbear's and sat down at a table, ordering two glasses of Pumpkin Juice and some cookies. Mandee thought she could contain not telling Harry about the letter, but she was dying to. Before she could do anything stupid, she wrenched the letter from her purse and threw it onto the table.  
  
"It dropped out of my purse," She said. "I didn't want to disturb you while you were talking to Ron and Hermione so I just. let it go on hold. I haven't even read it yet."  
  
"Well, let's read it then," Harry said opening it up and reading quietly aloud:  
  
"The last letter was just a poem, I'm not that good. I really want us to get together but I don't know if it's a good idea, and if I found out you didn't love me back it'd break my heart. Leave a note back to me and leave it behind the statue of the gargoyle in the entrance hall, tonight. Yours truly, your secret admirer."  
  
"Wow," She said, her eyebrows rising. "He wants me to write back. well, how can I, when I don't even know the guy?!"  
  
"I have an idea," Harry said. "You could write back and leave it behind the gargoyle and Ron and I can use our Invisibility Cloak to see who the guy is."  
  
"Why am I not surprised you have one of those?" She asked, laughing. "So, we could find out who's sending me these letters by finding the guy who comes to the statue to pick it up?"  
  
"That's right," Harry said. "So tonight we'll find out who's sending you these letters."  
  
"Alright," She nodded. "I'm all for it.  
  
"Okay," Harry said, grinning. "Hey, do you want me to show you a place I haven't showed anyone before?"  
  
"Uh," Mandee hesitated. "That sounds major wrong."  
  
Harry laughed. "No, I'm talking about a place where I go for solitude. Come with me."  
  
They escaped all the Hogsmeade shops and noises, into this bare area and over to the shrieking shack. The rooms were as stony as graveyards, and ice- cold. She shivered and followed Harry upstairs into what she supposed was, or used to be, the bedroom. Harry pushed the canopy aside, and under it was a small door.  
  
"Come here," He said, lifting it open. Looking down into it was amazing, it was a tunnel, filled with grass and flowers and sunlight was seeping through both ends.  
  
Harry lowered himself in, and then motioned for Mandee to come, as well.  
  
"Come on," Harry said.  
  
"It's far down," Mandee hesitated, peaking down from inside the bedroom.  
  
"Here," Harry offered, moving under the hole in which the door covered. "You jump, I'll catch you."  
  
Though surprised, she nodded and closed her eyes. "It's only a few feet." She whispered to herself and let herself fall into Harry's arms.  
  
"You okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Sure," She said, feeling like a baby for being scared about the fall.  
  
"We're almost there," Harry said beginning to walk again. As soon as the tunnel led them outside into the sunlight, Mandee realized they were a great distance from the castle, and over near the end of the lake. The fog actually made it more interesting, as Harry led her over to a large rock which overlooked the whole lake.  
  
"You'll have to climb it," Harry said. "It's only about ten steps though."  
  
So they began climbing the rock.. Harry got up first, obviously being the strongest. He helped her up, and stood back to watch.  
  
"Look at the view," He said, pointing in into the distance.  
  
Mandee turned her eyes in the direction of which he was pointing, and it was almost the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The little bit of sun that was now left was glittering onto the silver lake, which stretched for miles. A little to the left was Hogwarts, gleaming and sparkling madly as the sun crept up its stone walls. She was so star-struck, she gasped.  
  
"This is so beautiful," Mandee said, awed.  
  
"Yeah, I go here a lot," Harry replied, sitting down. "..to get away from Ron and Hermione when they're being real jerks or just annoying me."  
  
"So why'd you tell me about it?" Mandee asked, sitting down, too.  
  
"Because." Harry began. "You don't annoy me, and I. just think you deserved to see it. I haven't showed anyone before."  
  
"Well, it's beautiful." She replied, still awed. "I love it."  
  
"Mandee, I have to tell you something," Harry said, beginning to blush, but his eyes shifted from her to behind her. "Oh no.." he whispered.  
  
She looked behind her, and to her utter amazement she saw a dementor stalking through the grass and over to them. Behind it, more followed.  
  
"Climb down," Harry shouted, whipping out his wand. "Hurry."  
  
She did so, going as fast as she could, but the dementors were already drawing nearer to her. "Run!" Harry called from above.  
  
"I'm not letting you just stay here!" She called back up.  
  
"I can take care of myself," Harry said, trying to rethink the patronus spell. "I know a spell to get rid of them."  
  
Mandee nodded and ran off towards the tunnel, but unfortunately she was no match to the dementors, who soon caught onto her trail and were gaining steps. She hesitated as she walked into the tunnel, not knowing how to get back up. The dementors entered the cave after her, surrounding her as she screamed for help, forgetting her wand in the Gryffindor Common Room.  
  
But the dementor was doing something funny.. it took his long skinny hand and lowered his hood. She knew what it was doing; it was going to perform a dementor's kiss.  
  
The dementor walked closer to her, leaning over to perform the kiss, just as a blinding light flashed all around. The dementor's screeched with terror and fled out of the other side of the tunnel. Mandee, growing tired from what she supposed was the dementor's sucking her happiness away, only saw one thing before she fainted, and that was Harry. 


	5. Chapter 5

Mandee's eyelids slowly rose, looking around. She was in the hospital wing. lying on a bed, with a ton of Gryffindors surrounding her.  
  
"W-what's going on?" Mandee asked, trying to move, but she couldn't. "Why can't I move anything?"  
  
"We thought you were going to die," Ron gasped. "You were this close to getting a dementor's kiss!"  
  
"But.." Mandee stuttered. "I didn't, right? I mean, I didn't feel anything. I saw a light, but I was so tired I collapsed."  
  
"Yeah, lucky for you," A random Gryffindor said. "Harry signaled his patronus."  
  
"Oh," Mandee said, dumbstruck. Her thoughts about what happened before the dementor's came, the thing Harry had to tell her. Suddenly, she burst out, "Is Harry okay? Did he die? What happened? Where is he? Where's Nina? Is everyone okay? How did I get back here?"  
  
"Harry's fine," Hermione said. "He's just resting. He carried you all the way back here after you fainted."  
  
"Oh," She said, blushing. "Um. when will I be able to move and be out of here?"  
  
"Madame Pomfrey said another hour," Fred replied. "So, my advice to you is rest up."  
  
Mandee nodded, and closed her eyes again, hearing Madame Pomfrey shooing all the Gryffindors out of the room. So Harry had saved her life? She would have done the same for him, too, or anyone for that matter. She just wanted to sort things out with Harry and see what's going on between them.  
  
The hour went by quickly, because she only rested on and off, thinking about things the whole time. Soon she could feel life in her arms and legs again, and once she could fully move she sat up in bed.  
  
"Madame Pomfrey," Mandee called. "I'm all better, I'll be leaving now!"  
  
"Oh, no you don't," Madame Pomfrey puffed, strutting out of a linen closet with towels in her hand, and walking over to Mandee. "Not without a proper check-up!"  
  
As soon as her check-up was over, and she was able to leave, she went in search for Harry. He wasn't in the common room, or the Great Hall, the library, or wandering around the corridors. where was he? He obviously wasn't back at the "secret place", considering they almost died there. She walked outside, and when she didn't find him at the lake, she wandered over to the Hogwarts Garden.  
  
He was lying on a bench, using a hat as a pillow and staring up at the sky, which was now darkening. Mandee quietly walked over and looked down onto his face.  
  
"Can I talk to you?" She asked.  
  
"Mandee!" Harry said, startled. "I was sure you were dead! Are you okay? I thought I'd killed you. Here, sit down." He sat up, clearing room for her to sit.  
  
"No, you saved me," She said, smiling and sitting down. "How do you get back up into the room?"  
  
"It's a spell I needed to know in order to get back every time," Harry began. "It makes a temporary staircase so you can use it to get up."  
  
"Oh," Mandee laughed. "So um, I came to ask you a question."  
  
"Yeah?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, um," She began. "I don't know what's going on between us. We're just friends, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Harry said blankly.  
  
"So, that's it?" She asked raising an eyebrow.  
  
Harry stared at her seriously. "I- well.. Yeah, we're just friends."  
  
Mandee's brain was giving her a headache. Was this the wrong decision? I mean, she didn't love Harry, or anything...  
  
"Okay," She said, nodding. "Well, you still up for seeing who's writing me those letters?"  
  
Harry grinned. "No problem. Have you written the letter yet?"  
  
"No," Mandee said. "But I can write it right now. Let me just go get some paper and a quill."  
  
When she got back, they both started on the letter.  
  
"Dear Secret Admirer?" Mandee asked. "No, Dear Unknown. I don't really know who you are, and I can't judge if I like you or not when I don't know who you are, or even if I know you well."  
  
"Ask him if he wants to meet, just incase," Harry said.  
  
"Would you like to meet me in person?" Mandee wrote. "I'm up for new friends, and perhaps a relationship may spring up." She paused. "Does that sound cheesy?"  
  
"No, it's fine. Now finish it off and we'll go leave it behind the gargoyle."  
  
"So, what do you say?" Mandee wrote. "Reply back to me."  
  
"Great," Harry said, taking the letter and folding it. "C'mon, let's go."  
  
They both walked inside and left the letter behind the gargoyle, slipping off to go to the Great Hall to wait 'till tonight. As soon as dinner was over, they all headed back to the common room. Harry and Ron got the cloak and left to hide out near the gargoyle to see who it was.  
  
"So," Nina squealed, sitting on the couch with Hermione and Mandee. "Does Harry like Mandee?"  
  
Hermione looked at them both staring at her. "No." She said blankly. "He would tell me. Besides, I'm not sure he has a crush on anyone."  
  
"Ugh!" Nina exclaimed. "But they are so cute together!"  
  
"Nina, will you shut up?" Mandee snapped. "I have fifty loads of potions homework to do."  
  
"Well, gee," Nina said. "Oh, I mean.. Yes, your highness!"  
  
"Sorry," Mandee whispered.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed," Hermione said yawning. "I'll see you girls in the morning."  
  
As soon as she left, Nina turned to Mandee and stared hard at her. "Are you trying to hide it, or are you just blind?"  
  
"What?" Mandee asked.  
  
"You're so totally in love with Harry," Nina spouted. "And you know it for a fact. Well, while you think of one of your 'I don't like Harry and he doesn't like me!' comebacks, I'm off to bed. See you."  
  
Nina disappeared into the girls' dormitory, leaving Mandee alone and staring at the fire. Was she really in love with Harry? Every time she saw him she felt a tickling sensation in her stomach. And he'd saved her from the dementors, which might mean he liked her back. Finally she gave up thinking of ways to prevent what she knew was real. she loved Harry. 


End file.
